Tuesday, November 4, 2008

An article in the Times Colonist this weekend reminded me again of the importance of marine planning to ensure the sustainability of all the species that share our oceans - as well as the industries that profit from them.

Growing up on Vancouver Island, some of my best memories involved scouring the ocean from a helicopter, looking for porpoise and orca with my dad. Whenever we had guests visiting us, we would take them out on the whale watching boat. In fact, some of my family members in Ontario still mention those whale watching trips of years past when I speak with them!

I hope that future generations will be able to share my fond childhood memories of the ocean - of which orcas played a large part. Unfortunately, as this weekend's Times Colonist article reminds us, unless we address the threats to orcas in the area now, resident killer whale sightings on Vancouver Island will likely be harder to come by in the future.